Thursday, April 14, 2016

Trumbauer's Perry Belmont mansion tour

A few weeks ago I planned an ICAA tour of Trumbauer's Perry Belmont mansion - owned and operated by the Order of the Eastern Star. I say Trumbauer as he is the architect most associated with the house but in fact he only followed through and detailed the designs of French architect Ernest Sanson.

Perry Belmont hired Sanson to design this impressive mansion meant solely as a party house; this is not a family home! Due to a huge scandal when he married his wife (long story which I'll skip here but is easily found on wikipedia) the Belmonts left NYC and construction began in 1906. By 1909 the Belmonts were hosting numerous parties a week, some lasting into the late morning the next day! In 1935 the Belmont's sold the house and contents to the Eastern Star whom have been excellent stewards of the mansion.

The most interesting aspect of this house is the plan. Washington, DC is a grid of streets with diagonals cut through which leave a lot of odd shaped parcels. The entire block here is a triangle and the mansion was designed as a triangle to fit. One enters at the tip which faces Dupont circle, seen on the right on the plan below.

I've blogged about the house before, briefly in 2009, which you can see HERE.

The house is designed piano nobile style with the public rooms on what we Americans would call the 2nd floor. The entry hall is open to the grand stair which takes you up to the party.

Oddly enough, instead of service spaces on the ground level they are the private family spaces. For a house this grand it is interesting to note that there are only 3 bedroom suites. His, hers, and a guest room.

As we're guests lets head upstairs first before exploring the ground level.

The house was sold nearly fully intact so all of the light fixtures and much of the furnishings and art are original. Over the years the Eastern star has made many decorative additions but under new leadership these are currently being removed and the house restored to its original appearance.

Before you get to the bottom and the credits I want to note that the best pictures here are courtesy of my friend, architect Erich Stanley who attended the tour. His fancy camera is much better at showing you the house than my Iphone. I think you can tell whose are whose in this post!

These grand stairs make you feel like you've arrived once you get to the top; making an entrance to that all important party!

Our group of 25 barely even began to fill the space.

One arrives to the right of the stair above and just in front of what is labeled a 'Petit Salon' but was originally the music room.

All of these furnishings and fixtures are original to 1909.

As with any well designed Beaux-Arts structure the site lines are direct from room to room creating an enfilade effect.

Symmetry is king throughout.

The ballroom and dining room lay directly behind the staircase and you can catch a glimpse of that above.

The odd shape of the building makes for lots of little corners perfect for art niches -and also lots of closets!

Here is the music room; notice the musical instruments depicted on the ceiling ornamentation.

Also notice the oddly splayed jambs to the window to create a symmetrical shape to the room here in the point of the triangle.

The ballroom doubles as an art gallery and during the Belmont's time would have been loaded with much more art. What is seen here is all original to the space.

The rug is the only piece not original to the room.

A huge skylight floods the room with light -later we'll see what is above this laylight!

The fine woodwork here makes the ballroom feel more like a library minus the books.

Looking back towards the staircase above.

Most of the vases and objets found throughout the house are original Tiffany - Mrs. Belmont was related to Louis Comfort Tiffany.

The gilded bronze hardware is pretty amazing throughout the house -all original and functional.

The curtains and pelmets are simplified versions of the originals and the Eastern star has a new commitment to research and recreate the originals in the years to come; pending donation of course!

Here is the Main Salon with beautiful painted and gilded boiserie.

This room could not be more elegant if it tried.

The reverse side of elegance however is the masculine "Venetian" dining room. The Belmont's took the original ceiling paintings with them which have been replaced with some pretty hideous murals.

This is as much as I'll show you of those below, but the Eastern Star plans on painting over them with dark gilding to match the rest of the ceiling.

The robust decoration here is perhaps out of favor today but none the less impressive.

One of my favorite 'moments' was this fire alarm mounted to the damask upholstered walls.

The wainscot is marble paneling and I have to say this is the first time I've seen marble mounted to a door! In this case a hidden jib door into the 2 story butler's pantry.

The faucets are the only thing not original to the space. Look closely....they're hosebibs! Economy at work.

The servants of course would not have been using the main marble staircase. There is a very industrial metal stair which goes from the lowest basement to the servants quarters on the top floor.

The attic corridors are right out of downton abbey. Notice the few stairs in the hallway below which accommodate the higher ceiling in the ballroom below.

I promised you a view of above the ballroom laylight -here is the room which the servants got to enjoy in between the skylight and the ballroom below. It was originally lit like you see so that the skylight would glow even in the middle of the night.

The original cabinetry exists throughout the house - how beautiful are these linen cupboards even here in the servants quarters?

In the basement is the enormous kitchen - connected to the double butler's pantry by 2 glass dumb-waiters. These basement kitchens have been changed a bit to accommodate offices for the Eastern star but they left the original tile work and the most enormous stove I've ever seen. This is only about 1/3 of the length. I'm sure it was too difficult to cart out!

This old ice box is located in another room - original perhaps?

The family spaces however are much more interesting than the basement -and oddly enough much more lavish (dare I say garish?) than the public spaces. Perhaps exuberant is a better word.

This double marble staircase lies directly underneath the main stair up to the ballroom. Guess where it leads - it was a surprise to me!

This grand stair leads you to a huge squash court located directly under the porte cochere!

Behind the main stair are the family spaces. This center hall is the only square room in the entire house!

I loved the plaster details.

And the hardware throughout is amazing.

The original furniture is so interesting to see -this desk in the library had wonderful age and patina.

Even the bathrooms retain some of their original tile - perhaps unfortunately the original electrical wiring still is in place -notice the switches above!

I'll end with a picture of this screen in the private family dining room. Thats not a painted screen. It is NEEDLEPOINT. One has to put your nose about 2" from it to even see the stitches; the most impressive piece!Thank you so much to our guide for a wonderful tour and to the Eastern Star for hosting us! Tours can be arranged through their website here. Thanks to Erich Stanley for filling out my own photography! Floorplans and exterior rendering come from the essential book on Trumbauer "American Splendor" by Michael C Kathrens.

9 comments:

I have a thing for folding screens so that needlepoint screen looks amazing - they tend to be Asian and have oriental themes so to see it with a western hunting scene is quite novel. The building is stunning and I love its grand and classic proportions.

My nanny was a member of that organization and she had this big fancy ring she wore (Like a senior ring really) so this makes me smile to think about her.

You said it wasn't a family house?

Incredible. Love all your tours you go on!!! The staircase is incredible. The stone risers. And my favorite part of these kind of places is the behind the scenes, the Downton Abbey - the servants staircase, their tiny rooms. I love that = thanks for including! That skylight from the inside!!!!!